Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft

Craft Elder and author Raven Grimassi has revised and expanded his indispensable reference work, the award-winning Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft. The first book of its kind to be written by a practicing Witch, this guide presents Wicca/Witchcraft as a spiritual path, connecting religious concepts and spirituality to both a historical background and modern practice.

With a wealth of information on European folklore and Western Occultism, and material relevant to any tradition, you can use this book to research any aspect of the Craft, including:

• Theology-pantheons, Wiccan Rede, Three-Fold Law
• History-Craft roots and influence
• Places-historical and sacred sites
• Verses, rites, and invocations
• Ritual objects and tools
• Influential Witches-past and present

The Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft also contains a glossary of terminology; book references; Craft web sites, organizations, and magazines; magickal alphabets, runes, correspondences, symbols; and 300 illustrations.

Raven Grimassi's Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft is easily the most important book on the subject to come out this year. It will be seen as one of the most important books on Wicca and Witchcraft for years to come. From now on, if you want to know anything about the history or methods of the Craft, this is the place you will start.

Do you need to find out about a person who has had an important impact on Wicca: Gardner? Sanders? Clutterbuck? Valiente? It's in here.

Would you like to discover more about Wiccan holidays: Mabon? Lughnasadh? Litha? You'll discover it in here, too.

Also in here is information on magical tools and methods, philosophy, theology, various pantheons, Pagan traditions, herbs, and their powers and even the flows of energy around the world called the "Tatvic Tides." Three hundred photos and illustrations let you see what people look like and help to amplify the information.

Perhaps you'd like to learn about Scottish Witchcraft. In this book you'd learn that the first modern mention of it was in a book by Raymond Buckland. "Such was the response that Ray got to his mention of this tradition, that he had to publish full details...The information was provided by Wiccan teacher Aidan Breac..." If you want to know more about Breac and the PectiWita tradition, you'll find it in this book.

Many people think that Wicca has no real laws. However, there are 140 Traditional Laws of Witchcraft. You'll find them all listed here. You'll also discover the difference between a pentacle and a pentagram, what the Odic Force is, the eclecticism of the Ladywood Tradition, the ancient sources of working magic "skyclad," plus lists of Pagan publications, mail ordersuppliers, and so much more.

This is an important book you will want to get right away!

Winner of the 2001 Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) Award for best Non-fiction Book

Raven Grimassi is a Neo-Pagan scholar and award-winning author of over twelve books on Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-Paganism. He is a member of the American Folk Lore Society and is co-founder and co-director of the College of the Crossroads.

Raven's background includes training in the Rosicrucian Order as well as the study of the Kabbalah through the First Temple of Tifareth under Lady Sara Cunningham. His early magical career began in the late 1960s and involved the study of works by Franz Bardon, Eliphas Levi, William Barrett, Dion Fortune, William Gray, William Butler, and Israel Regardie.

Today Raven is the directing Elder of the tradition of Aridian Witchcraft, and together with his wife Stephanie Taylor he is developing a complete teaching system known as Ash, Birch and Willow. This system is the culmination of over 35 years of study and practice in the magical and spiritual traditions of the indigenous people of pre-Christian Europe.